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Microsoft: IE6 Cannot Die

We here at Mashable have been big proponents of eliminating Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) from the web. As we passionately argued in IE6 Must Die for the Web to Move On, the outdated browser is stifling innovation, breaking websites, and hurting the advancement of new web technology.

A lot of people agree with us as well: Twitter and Digg, for example. Some of the web's most popular companies even got together to form IE6 No More, a campaign to eliminate the horrendous browser.

Now the chorus has grown so loud that Microsoft itself has responded to the movement. The blog post on the Internet Explorer blog goes through the entire debate. While Microsoft advocates upgrading, it also highlighted the difficulty of getting people to upgrade and, most intriguingly, stated that "dropping support for IE6 is not an option."

Nobody said killing IE6 would be easy.

The Microsoft Argument

The post, by Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch, the General Manager of the Internet Explorer team, is an "engineer's point of view" on the subject. First, he addresses the argument of many tech enthusiasts that upgrading shouldn't be difficult:

"For technology enthusiasts, this topic seems simple. Enthusiasts install new (often unfinished or “beta”) software all the time. Scores of posts on this site and others describe specific benefits of upgrading. As a browser supplier, we want people to switch to the latest version of IE for security, performance, interoperability, and more. So, if all of the “individual enthusiasts” want Windows XP machines upgraded from IE6, and the supplier of IE6 wants them upgraded, what’s the issue?

The choice to upgrade software on a PC belongs to the person responsible for the PC."

He then outlines something we've already discussed: that many users of IE6 aren't individuals, but organizations with IT departments and deployment costs.

"They balance their personal enthusiasm for upgrading PCs with their accountability to many other priorities their organizations have. As much as they (or site developers, or Microsoft or anyone else) want them to move to IE8 now, they see the PC software image as one part of a larger IT picture with its own cadence."

Dean also points to an IE6 survey that Digg conducted not long ago, where 17% of IE6 users state that they don't feel the need to upgrade. Dismaying, especially when you consider Digg users tend to be early adopters.

Finally, Microsoft makes a very important statement: that they will not drop support for IE6. Their reasoning is solid, though: that they committed to supporting IE6 as long as they support Windows XP:

"Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product. We keep our commitments. Many people expect what they originally got with their operating system to keep working whatever release cadence particular subsystems have."

He also encourages everyone to upgrade, and states that Microsoft's intent to strongly encourage Windows users to upgrade.

A Short-Term Hit for a Long-Term Gain

Overall, Dean's piece is well thought out. He highlights a lot of the issues behind destroying IE. It costs businesses to upgrade. Many IE6 users are apathetic. These are things we knew, even before we took up this challenge.

The fight to destroy IE6 will be a rocky road; this isn't new. That's why we must use the weapon of awareness. As long as individuals and IT departments don't know about the dangers of IE6 and how it is single-handedly hurting the web, people won't switch.

But once others let them know that IE6 is a gateway for hacks, viruses, and broken websites, people will begin to switch. Others will get the message when they see the IE No More browser bar, while even more may switch when they find YouTube, Digg, and their favorite websites won't load.

Yes, using IE6 is the choice of the individual or the business, but it's also our choice to not support it. While businesses will take short-term hits upgrading, in the long-term they will be safer and more productive. And in the long-term, we will be able to build better apps, better websites, and better products because the IE6 monster is dead.

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is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.